Technology is Key for a Better Education

A business leader of Brazil, Flavio Maluf, president of Eucatex a large corporation in Brazil, and owner of GrandFood, believes education is key to bringing Brazil out of its economic slump.

He suggest that technology is the means to improving education in Brazil but he doesn’t condone the misuse of digital devices. Everyone, after all, knows how to chat and look through Facebook. The idea is to give teachers the tools and the knowledge to take technology into the classroom.

Young people already like electronic devices. They are born to it, and spend much of their day in activities that involve the mobile phone, tablet or computer. “But it is important that we help them focus on using technology in educational ways.” Flavio Maluf believes that when technology is properly used it will improve the education of young Brazilians.

In Brazil, understanding technology is still a challenge to parents and educators. They need to find ways to make these devices more educational and no just a form of entertainment. The change is occurring suggests Maluf, but it is slow. Proof of this is in a 2013 poll, where studies show that approximately 46% of public school teachers use the Internet in class to help children conduct research.

Today there are also more technology resources available to educators which allows them to improve their teaching methods. These include videos, text, illustrations and software. The use of technology in the classroom has grown, but Flavio Maluf believes more is needed as only about 7% of all schools use it, whereas about 68% of all Brazilian young people use the Internet at home for entertainment purposes.

“The use of the Internet in the classroom improves the education of kids, but we need to make it more useful, easier to use and help teachers understand how to use it in the classroom,” says Maluf on his blog.